The Edmonton Rush have had an interesting week to say the least. Earlier owner Bruce Urban lashed out at The City of Edmonton and Mayor Don Ivason for lack of support. The public debate has certainly caused the players to lose focus from tonight’s all-important Western Final game.
Coach Derek Keenan and his staff have the task of getting the players to turn their attention back to the field and concentrate on their game plan rather than all the hoopla surrounding this weeks activities.
Edmonton will have Robert Church back in the line up. He will be a welcomed addition after missing game one of the series. He was Edmonton’s second leading scorer in the regular season and will be called upon to help put the Roughnecks away in game two.
Mark Mathews will also have to do his best to reproduce his seven-point night. He managed 3 goals and 4 assists in game one. Edmonton does not want a reoccurrence of last years final where they were forced into the mini game by the Roughnecks and lost the right to play in the Champions cup.
The Edmonton defence will have to shut down top NLL scorer Shawn Evans and teammate Curtis Dickson who combined for 9 points in Game one.
If the opening game was an indication of what the play will be like in game two, then we should expect to see a rough hard fought affair filled with penalties. If the Rush can take advantage of Calgary’s undisciplined play like in game one and score on the power play, then this series should end in their favor.
For Calgary to win, they must find a way to get the Rush off their game. They may have had some help from this weeks activities, but they still have to find a way to slow down Mark Mathews, Robert Church and Zack Greer. If they do, then they still have to get some more shots on one of the leagues best goalie in Aaron Bold.
The two teams are evenly matched. The team that has the most desire and the least amount of mistakes will move on to the Champions cup against the winner of Toronto and Rochester.
